Enhanced High-Throughput Multi-Link Operation Management

ABSTRACT

An apparatus (e.g., a station (STA) in a wireless local area network (WLAN)), receives, from an access point (AP), a frame comprising a multi-link configuration information element (IE) that indicates one or more enabled links as a subset of one or more supported links for a traffic identifier (TID). Accordingly, the apparatus transmits, to the AP, data over at least one of the one or more enabled links corresponding to the TID.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

The present disclosure is part of a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/940,347, filed 27 Jul. 2020 and claiming thepriority benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Nos. 62/880,691and 62/895,525, filed on 31 Jul. 2019 and 4 Sep. 2019, respectively.Contents of aforementioned applications are herein incorporated byreference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is generally related to wireless communicationsand, more particularly, to enhanced high-throughput (EHT) multi-linkoperation management in wireless local area networks (WLANs).

BACKGROUND

Unless otherwise indicated herein, approaches described in this sectionare not prior art to the claims listed below and are not admitted asprior art by inclusion in this section.

With respect to EHT multi-link operation in wireless communications,such as wireless communications in a wireless local area network (WLAN)in compliance with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE) 802.11 standard(s), a multi-link station (STA) should transmitframes in multiple links simultaneously in order to improve per-sessionthroughput and reduce latency. Specifically, the multi-link STA performsa channel access in multiple links independently. When the multi-linkSTA obtains transmit opportunities (TXOPs) in the multiple links, themulti-link STA simultaneously transmits frames on the multiple links(with a link on which the multi-link STA obtains a TXOP being referredto as the primary link). After obtaining the TXOP and in order to avoidin-device coexistence (IDC) interference, an early access of anon-primary link (on which an Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA)backoff timer is not expired) is allowed if both a physical carriersense (CS) and a virtual CS of another link are idle. However, as thereis not yet a unified multi-link operating mode signaling defined, thereis a need for a solution for such signaling to enable effective EHTmulti-link operation management.

SUMMARY

The following summary is illustrative only and is not intended to belimiting in any way. That is, the following summary is provided tointroduce concepts, highlights, benefits and advantages of the novel andnon-obvious techniques described herein. Select implementations arefurther described below in the detailed description. Thus, the followingsummary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimedsubject matter, nor is it intended for use in determining the scope ofthe claimed subject matter.

An objective of the present disclosure is to provide schemes, concepts,designs, techniques, methods and apparatuses pertaining to EHTmulti-link operation management. Under various proposed schemes inaccordance with the present disclosure, a unified multi-link operatingmode signaling may be utilized for EHT multi-link operation management.For instance, under various proposed schemes, a multi-link STA may useone or more selected links instead of all of its supported multiplelinks, thereby resulting in reduced energy consumption and reduced cost.Regarding reduced energy consumption, the multi-link STA may operate onone (and no more than one) link of its multiple links. Regarding reducedcost, the multi-link STA may support one (and no more than one) activelink (e.g., the multi-link STA needs no more than one encoder/decoder).When a basic service set (BSS) is congested, the multi-link STA mayoperate on one (and no more than one) link of the multiple links asperformance gain with multiple links tends to be quite small.

In one aspect, a method may involve a processor of an apparatusreceiving, from an access point (AP), a frame comprising a multi-linkconfiguration information element (IE) that indicates one or moreenabled links as a subset of one or more supported links for a trafficidentifier (TID). The method may also involve the processortransmitting, to the AP, data over at least one of the one or moreenabled links corresponding to the TID.

In another aspect, a method may involve a processor of an apparatusreceiving, from an AP, a frame comprising a multi-link configuration IEthat indicates one or more enabled links as a subset of one or moresupported links. The method may also involve the processor selecting atleast one enabled link of the one or more enabled links. The method mayfurther involve the processor communicating with the AP over the atleast one enabled link.

It is noteworthy that, although description provided herein may be inthe context of certain radio access technologies, networks and networktopologies such as, Wi-Fi, the proposed concepts, schemes and anyvariation(s)/derivative(s) thereof may be implemented in, for and byother types of radio access technologies, networks and networktopologies such as, for example and without limitation, Bluetooth,ZigBee, 5^(th) Generation (5G)/New Radio (NR), Long-Term Evolution(LTE), LTE-Advanced, LTE-Advanced Pro, Internet-of-Things (IoT),Industrial IoT (IIoT) and narrowband IoT (NB-IoT). Thus, the scope ofthe present disclosure is not limited to the examples described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute apart of the present disclosure. The drawings illustrate implementationsof the disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explainthe principles of the disclosure. It is appreciable that the drawingsare not necessarily in scale as some components may be shown to be outof proportion than the size in actual implementation to clearlyillustrate the concept of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example network environment in which varioussolutions and schemes in accordance with the present disclosure may beimplemented.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an example scenario in accordance with thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an example scenario in accordance with thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an example scenario in accordance with thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an example frame in accordance with the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of an example scenario in accordance with thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of an example scenario in accordance with thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an example communication system inaccordance with an implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an example process in accordance with animplementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of an example process in accordance with animplementation of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Detailed embodiments and implementations of the claimed subject mattersare disclosed herein. However, it shall be understood that the disclosedembodiments and implementations are merely illustrative of the claimedsubject matters which may be embodied in various forms. The presentdisclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and shouldnot be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments andimplementations set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodimentsand implementations are provided so that description of the presentdisclosure is thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope ofthe present disclosure to those skilled in the art. In the descriptionbelow, details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted toavoid unnecessarily obscuring the presented embodiments andimplementations.

Overview

Implementations in accordance with the present disclosure relate tovarious techniques, methods, schemes and/or solutions pertaining to EHTmulti-link operation management in wireless communications. According tothe present disclosure, a number of possible solutions may beimplemented separately or jointly. That is, although these possiblesolutions may be described below separately, two or more of thesepossible solutions may be implemented in one combination or another.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example network environment 100 in which varioussolutions and schemes in accordance with the present disclosure may beimplemented. FIG. 2 ˜FIG. 4 illustrate examples of implementation ofvarious proposed schemes in network environment 100 in accordance withthe present disclosure. The following description of various proposedschemes is provided with reference to FIG. 1 ˜FIG. 4 .

Referring to FIG. 1 , network environment 100 may involve a STA 110communicating wirelessly with an AP 120 in a BSS 130 in accordance withone or more IEEE 802.11 standards. STA 110 may be a multi-link STA withone or more links operating in, for example and without limitation, the2.4 GHz band, 5 GHz-band and/or 6 GHz band. Under various proposedschemes in accordance with the present disclosure, STA 110 and AP 120may be configured to perform EHT multi-link operation management inwireless communications in accordance with various proposed schemesdescribed below.

Under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure, AP120 may include in beacon, probe response, association (orreassociation) response frames a multi-link configuration IE thatindicates enabled link(s) of each multi-link STA in communication withAP 120, including STA 110, for each of one or more TIDs. Under theproposed scheme, the per-STA TID-link mapping information field of themulti-link configuration IE may have a number of subfields such as, forexample and without limitation, an association identifier (AID)subfield, a TID bitmap subfield, and link bitmap subfields. The AIDsubfield may indicate the AID of a respective multi-link STA configuredby the per-STA TID-link mapping information field. The TID bitmapsubfield may indicate one or more TIDs with which one or more linkbitmap subfields in the per-STA TID-link mapping information field areassociated. For instance, in case a first bit of the TID bitmap subfieldis set to “1”, a link bitmap subfield for TID₁ may be contained in theper-STA TID-link mapping information field. Likewise, in case an eighthbit of the TID bitmap subfield is set to “1”, a link bitmap subfield forTIDs may be contained in the per-STA TID-link mapping information field.In case all bits of the TID bitmap subfield are set to “1”, eight linkbitmap subfields for all TIDs may be contained in the per-STA TID-linkmapping information field. In case all bits of the TID bitmap subfieldare set to “0”, a single link bitmap subfield for all TIDs may becontained in the per-STA TID-link mapping information field.

Each link bitmap subfield may indicate the link on which framescorresponding to the TID associated with the link bitmap subfield aresent. For instance, in case a first bit of the link bitmap subfield forTID_(m) is set to “1”, a first link may be used for sending framescorresponding to TID_(m). Similarly, in case an eighth bit of the linkbitmap subfield for TID_(m) is set to “1”, an eighth link may be usedfor sending frames corresponding to TID_(m). Moreover, detailedparameters (e.g., Operating Class and Channel Number) of an N^(th) linkmay be exchanged at a multi-link operation setup phase. Furthermore, oneor more bits in the link bitmap subfield for a single TID may be set to“1”.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example scenario 200 in accordance with thepresent disclosure. In scenario 200, for each multi-link STA, amulti-link configuration IE may include a per-STA TID-link mappinginformation field, which may include a respective AID subfield, a TIDbitmap subfield and one or more link bitmap subfields. Each link bitmapsubfield may correspond to a respective link of the respectivemulti-link STA and may indicate one or more enabled links of therespective TID subfield of the respective multi-link STA. Referring toFIG. 2 , a link bitmap subfield for a TID_(m) of a multi-link STA havingAID_(i) is shown to indicate link 1, link 2, link 3 and link 4.Similarly, a link bitmap subfield for a TID_(n) of a multi-link STAhaving AID_(j) is also shown to indicate link 1, link 2, link 3 and link4.

Under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure, incase AP 120 enables more than one links of a plurality of supportedlinks for a single TID for STA 110, STA 110 as a multi-link STA mayselect and use one or more links (e.g., a subset) of the enabled linksfor sending frame(s) corresponding to the TID. Moreover, in case AP 120enables a single link of a plurality of supported links for a single TIDfor STA 110, STA 110 may use the single enabled link (and not otherlinks) for sending frame(s) corresponding to the TID.

Under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure, incase STA 110 identifies or otherwise determines that there is a changewith respect to its enabled link(s) for one or more TIDs in the receivedmulti-link configuration IE, STA 110 may send to AP 120 a frame having amulti-link operation A-Control field that indicates the new operatinglink(s) for each of the one or more TIDs which is/are a subset of thechanged enabled link(s). FIG. 3 illustrates an example scenario 300 inaccordance with the present disclosure. In scenario 300, the enabledlinks of STA 110 for TID₁ are changed from Link 1 and Link 2 to Link 1and Link 3. Under the proposed scheme, STA 110 may send (e.g., overLink 1) to AP 120 a frame indicating a switch in the operating linksfrom Link 1 and Link 2 to Link 1 and Link 3 in the multi-link operationA-Control field of the frame.

Under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure, incase current operating link(s) of STA 110 for each of one or more TIDsare not a subset of the enabled link(s) of STA 110 changed by AP 120,STA 110 may send to AP 120 a frame having the multi-link operationA-Control field that indicates the new operating link(s) for each of theone or more TIDs which are a subset of the changed enabled link(s). FIG.4 illustrates an example scenario 400 in accordance with the presentdisclosure. In scenario 400, the enabled links of STA 110 are changedfrom Link 1 to Link 2. Under the proposed scheme, STA 110 may send(e.g., over Link 1) to AP 120 a frame indicating a switch in theoperating link from Link 1 to Link 2 in the multi-link operationA-Control field of the frame. After a period of link switching time, AP120 and STA 110 may exchange frames on Link 2. The link switching timemay be signaled or otherwise configured by AP 120 at the multi-linkoperation setup phase.

It is noteworthy that, in the present disclosure, the term “supportedlink(s)” refers to one or more communication links on which multi-linkaggregation is capable or otherwise supported. Additionally, the term“enabled link(s)” refers to one or more communication links for each ofone or more TIDs on which multi-link aggregation is enabled. Forinstance, AP 120 may determine the enabled link(s) for each TID based onthe supported link(s) of STA 110 and the channel utilization of thelinks, and AP 120 may announce the enabled link(s) for each TID to STA110. The enabled link(s) may be a subset of the common supported link(s)of both STA 110 and AP 120. Moreover, the term “disabled link(s)” refersto one or more communication links for each of one or more TIDs on whichmulti-link aggregation is disabled. Furthermore, the term “operatinglink(s)” refers to one or more communication links for each of one ormore TIDs on which multi-link aggregation is operated. For instance, STA110 may determine the operating link(s) for each TID based on itsenabled link(s) for each TID and link quality, and STA 110 may indicatethe operating link(s) for each TID to AP 120 (and the operating link(s)may be a subset of the enabled link(s)). Otherwise, the operatinglink(s) for each TID may be the same links as the enabled link(s) foreach TID specified by AP 120.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example format 500 in accordance with the presentdisclosure. Format 500 may be an example of a multi-link operationA-Control field format. Referring to FIG. 5 , format 500 may include aTID bitmap subfield and one or more link bitmap subfields. The TIDbitmap subfield may indicate TIDs with which the link bitmap subfieldsin the multi-link operation A-Control field are associated. Each linkbitmap subfield may indicate a respective link on which frame(s)corresponding to the TID associated with the link bitmap subfield aresent. Under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure,a frame having the multi-link operation A-Control field may be definedas a management frame of which the frame body may have the TID bitmapsubfield and link bitmap subfield(s).

Under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure, AP120 and STA 110 may exchange information on their supported multi-links.For instance, AP 120 may announce an enabled multi-link of STA 110 inthe TID-link mapping information field of a multi-link configuration IEto STA 110. The enabled multi-link of STA 110 announced by AP 120 may beone or more links in the supported multi-link of STA 110 but may not bein a disabled multi-link most recently received from STA MLLE 110.Similarly, STA 110 may announce its disabled multi-link to AP 120through a frame that solicits acknowledgement from AP 120. The disabledmulti-link announced by STA 110 may be one or more links in thesupported multi-link of STA 110 but may not be all links in thesupported multi-link of STA 110.

Under the proposed scheme, each of AP 120 and STA 110 may immediatelyupdate the enabled multi-link whenever it transmits or receives eitherthe TID-link mapping information field of a multi-link configuration IEor a frame containing the disabled multi-link. AP 120 and STA 110 mayexchange frames using multi-link operation (MLO) on link(s) which is/arein the enabled multi-link but not in the disabled multi-link.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example scenario 600 of multi-link operating modeexchange in accordance with the present disclosure. In scenario 600,when a multi-link logical entity (MLLE) (which may be an AP such as AP120 or a STA such as STA 110) supports concurrent link operations, aframe having information of the enabled multi-link may be sent by an AP(e.g., AP 120). Moreover, a frame having information of the disabledmulti-link may be sent by a STA (e.g., STA 110).

FIG. 7 illustrates an example scenario 700 of multi-link operating modeexchange in accordance with the present disclosure. In scenario 700,when a MLLE (which may be an AP such as AP 120 or a STA such as STA 110)does not support concurrent link operations, a frame having informationof the enabled multi-link may be sent by AP (e.g., AP 120). Moreover, aframe having information of the disabled multi-link may be sent by a STA(e.g., STA 110).

Thus, a signaling mechanism for an enabled multi-link and a disabledmulti-link may be implemented according to the proposed schemesdescribed above. Advantageously, a STA (e.g., STA 110) may turn off itsradio for the disabled multi-link to result in reduced power consumptionand enhanced resource management of other resources to achieve improvedload balancing. Moreover, for the power and other resource management ofthe enabled multi-link, a per-link power management mechanism may beutilized.

In view of the above, under various proposed schemes, a multi-link STA(e.g., STA 110) may use one or more selected links instead of all of itssupported multiple links, thereby resulting in reduced energyconsumption and reduced cost. Advantageously, the multi-link STA mayoperate on one (and no more than one) link of its multiple links,thereby achieving reduced energy consumption. Moreover, the multi-linkSTA may support one (and no more than one) active link at a time, therewould be no need for the multi-link STA to be equipped with more thanone encoder/decoder, thereby achieving reduced cost.

Illustrative Implementations

FIG. 8 illustrates an example system 800 having at least an exampleapparatus 810 and an example apparatus 820 in accordance with animplementation of the present disclosure. Each of apparatus 810 andapparatus 820 may perform various functions to implement schemes,techniques, processes and methods described herein pertaining to EHTmulti-link operation management in wireless communications, includingthe various schemes described above with respect to various proposeddesigns, concepts, schemes, systems and methods described above as wellas processes described below. For instance, apparatus 810 may beimplemented in STA 110 and apparatus 820 may be implemented in AP 120,or vice versa.

Each of apparatus 810 and apparatus 820 may be a part of an electronicapparatus, which may be a STA or an AP, such as a portable or mobileapparatus, a wearable apparatus, a wireless communication apparatus or acomputing apparatus. When implemented in a STA, each of apparatus 810and apparatus 820 may be implemented in a smartphone, a smart watch, apersonal digital assistant, a digital camera, or a computing equipmentsuch as a tablet computer, a laptop computer or a notebook computer.Each of apparatus 810 and apparatus 820 may also be a part of a machinetype apparatus, which may be an IoT apparatus such as an immobile or astationary apparatus, a home apparatus, a wire communication apparatusor a computing apparatus. For instance, each of apparatus 810 andapparatus 820 may be implemented in a smart thermostat, a smart fridge,a smart door lock, a wireless speaker or a home control center. Whenimplemented in or as a network apparatus, apparatus 810 and/or apparatus820 may be implemented in a network node, such as an AP in a WLAN.

In some implementations, each of apparatus 810 and apparatus 820 may beimplemented in the form of one or more integrated-circuit (IC) chipssuch as, for example and without limitation, one or more single-coreprocessors, one or more multi-core processors, one or morereduced-instruction set computing (RISC) processors, or one or morecomplex-instruction-set-computing (CISC) processors. In the variousschemes described above, each of apparatus 810 and apparatus 820 may beimplemented in or as a STA or an AP. Each of apparatus 810 and apparatus820 may include at least some of those components shown in FIG. 8 suchas a processor 812 and a processor 822, respectively, for example. Eachof apparatus 810 and apparatus 820 may further include one or more othercomponents not pertinent to the proposed scheme of the presentdisclosure (e.g., internal power supply, display device and/or userinterface device), and, thus, such component(s) of apparatus 810 andapparatus 820 are neither shown in FIG. 8 nor described below in theinterest of simplicity and brevity.

In one aspect, each of processor 812 and processor 822 may beimplemented in the form of one or more single-core processors, one ormore multi-core processors, one or more RISC processors or one or moreCISC processors. That is, even though a singular term “a processor” isused herein to refer to processor 812 and processor 822, each ofprocessor 812 and processor 822 may include multiple processors in someimplementations and a single processor in other implementations inaccordance with the present disclosure. In another aspect, each ofprocessor 812 and processor 822 may be implemented in the form ofhardware (and, optionally, firmware) with electronic componentsincluding, for example and without limitation, one or more transistors,one or more diodes, one or more capacitors, one or more resistors, oneor more inductors, one or more memristors and/or one or more varactorsthat are configured and arranged to achieve specific purposes inaccordance with the present disclosure. In other words, in at least someimplementations, each of processor 812 and processor 822 is aspecial-purpose machine specifically designed, arranged and configuredto perform specific tasks including those pertaining to EHT multi-linkoperation management in wireless communications in accordance withvarious implementations of the present disclosure.

In some implementations, apparatus 810 may also include a transceiver816 coupled to processor 812. Transceiver 816 may include a transmittercapable of wirelessly transmitting and a receiver capable of wirelesslyreceiving data. In some implementations, apparatus 820 may also includea transceiver 826 coupled to processor 822. Transceiver 826 may includea transmitter capable of wirelessly transmitting and a receiver capableof wirelessly receiving data.

In some implementations, apparatus 810 may further include a memory 814coupled to processor 812 and capable of being accessed by processor 812and storing data therein. In some implementations, apparatus 820 mayfurther include a memory 824 coupled to processor 822 and capable ofbeing accessed by processor 822 and storing data therein. Each of memory814 and memory 824 may include a type of random-access memory (RAM) suchas dynamic RAM (DRAM), static RAM (SRAM), thyristor RAM (T-RAM) and/orzero-capacitor RAM (Z-RAM). Alternatively, or additionally, each ofmemory 814 and memory 824 may include a type of read-only memory (ROM)such as mask ROM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable ROM(EPROM) and/or electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM).Alternatively, or additionally, each of memory 814 and memory 824 mayinclude a type of non-volatile random-access memory (NVRAM) such asflash memory, solid-state memory, ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM),magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM) and/or phase-change memory.

Each of apparatus 810 and apparatus 820 may be a communication entitycapable of communicating with each other using various proposed schemesin accordance with the present disclosure. For illustrative purposes andwithout limitation, a description of capabilities of apparatus 810, asSTA 110, and apparatus 820, as AP 120, is provided below. It isnoteworthy that, although the example implementations described beloware provided in the context of WLAN, the same may be implemented inother types of networks.

Under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure, withapparatus 810 implemented in or as STA 110 and apparatus 820 implementedin or as AP 120 of a wireless network such as a WLAN in accordance withone or more of IEEE 802.11 standards, apparatus 810 may receive, viatransceiver 816, from apparatus 820 a frame including a multi-linkconfiguration IE that indicates one or more enabled links as a subset ofone or more supported links for a TID. Additionally, apparatus 810 maytransmit, via transceiver 816, to apparatus 820 data over at least oneof the one or more enabled links corresponding to the TID.

In some implementations, the frame may include a beacon frame, a proberesponse frame, an association response frame, or a reassociationresponse frame.

In some implementations, the multi-link configuration IE may include arespective per-STA TID-link mapping information field for each of one ormore TIDs associated with apparatus 810. In some implementations, theper-STA TID-link mapping information field may include a TID bitmapsubfield and one or more link bitmap subfields. In such cases, the TIDbitmap subfield may indicate the one or more TIDs including the TID, andeach of the one or more link bitmap subfields may indicate one or morelinks including the one or more enabled links corresponding to the TIDon which transmission of the data is enabled.

In some implementations, processor 812 may perform additionaloperations. For instance, processor 812 may determine that there is achange with respect to the one or more enabled links. Furthermore,processor 812 may indicate, via transceiver 816, to apparatus 820 one ormore new operating links responsive to the determining.

In some implementations, in determining that there is the change withrespect to the one or more enabled links, processor 812 may receive, viatransceiver 816, another frame from apparatus 820 indicating the changewith respect to the one or more enabled links.

In some implementations, in indicating to apparatus 820 the one or morenew operating links, processor 812 may transmit, via transceiver 816, toapparatus 820 a management frame including a multi-link operationA-Control field that indicates the one or more new operating links as asubset of one or more changed enabled links corresponding to the TID. Insome implementations, the multi-link operation A-Control field mayinclude a TID bitmap subfield and one or more link bitmap subfields. Insuch cases, the TID bitmap may indicate one or more TIDs with which theone or more link bitmap subfields in the multi-link operation A-Controlfield are associated. Moreover, each of the one or more link bitmapsubfields may indicate one or more links on which one or more framescorresponding to a respective one of the one or more TIDs associatedwith the respective link bitmap subfield are transmitted.

In some implementations, processor 812 may perform other operations. Forinstance, processor 812 may switch an operating link from a first linkamong the one or more enabled links to a second link among one or morechanged enabled links responsive to the determining. Moreover, processor812 may transmit, via transceiver 816, to apparatus 820 data over thesecond link.

In some implementations, in indicating to apparatus 820 the one or morenew operating links, processor 812 may transmit, via transceiver 816 andover the first link, a management frame including a multi-link operationA-Control field that indicates the one or more new operating links. Insuch cases, the second link may not be among the one or more enabledlinks.

In some implementations, in switching the operating link from the firstlink to the second link, processor 812 may perform the switching usingan amount of link switching time. In such cases, the link switching timemay be signaled by apparatus 820 at a multi-link operation setup phase.

In some implementations, processor 812 may perform additionaloperations. For instance, processor 812 may receive, via transceiver816, from apparatus 820 another frame including another multi-linkconfiguration IE that indicates one or more disabled links among the oneor more supported links for the TID. Moreover, processor 812 may turnoff the one or more disabled links. Furthermore, processor 812 maytransmit, via transceiver 816, to apparatus 820 data over at least oneof the one or more enabled links that is not among the one or moredisabled links.

Under another proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure,with apparatus 810 implemented in or as STA 110 and apparatus 820implemented in or as AP 120 of a wireless network such as a WLAN inaccordance with one or more of IEEE 802.11 standards, apparatus 810 mayreceive, via transceiver 816, from apparatus 820 a frame including amulti-link configuration IE that indicates one or more enabled links asa subset of one or more supported links. Moreover, apparatus 810 mayselect at least one enabled link of the one or more enabled links.Furthermore, apparatus 810 may communicate, via transceiver 816, withapparatus 820 over the at least one enabled link.

In some implementations, the frame may include a beacon frame, a proberesponse frame, an association response frame, or a reassociationresponse frame.

In some implementations, the multi-link configuration IE may include arespective per-STA TID-link mapping information field for each of one ormore TIDs associated with apparatus 810. In some implementations, theper-STA TID-link mapping information field may include a TID bitmapsubfield and one or more link bitmap subfields. In such cases, the TIDbitmap subfield may indicate the one or more TIDs, and each of the oneor more link bitmap subfields may indicate one or more links includingthe one or more enabled links corresponding to the TID on whichtransmission of data is enabled.

In some implementations, processor 812 may perform additionaloperations. For instance, processor 812 may determine that there is achange with respect to the one or more enabled links. Moreover,processor 812 may indicate, via transceiver 816, to apparatus 820 one ormore new operating links responsive to the determining.

In some implementations, in indicating to apparatus 820 the one or morenew operating links, processor 812 may transmit, via transceiver 816, toapparatus 820 a management frame including a multi-link operationA-Control field that indicates the one or more new operating links as asubset of one or more changed enabled links corresponding to the TID. Insome implementations, the multi-link operation A-Control field mayinclude a TID bitmap subfield and one or more link bitmap subfields. Insuch cases, the TID bitmap may indicate one or more TIDs with which theone or more link bitmap subfields in the multi-link operation A-Controlfield are associated. Moreover, each of the one or more link bitmapsubfields may indicate one or more links on which one or more framescorresponding to a respective one of the one or more TIDs associatedwith the respective link bitmap subfield are transmitted.

In some implementations, processor 812 may perform other operations. Forinstance, processor 812 may receive, via transceiver 816, from apparatus820 another frame including another multi-link configuration IE thatindicates one or more disabled links among the one or more supportedlinks for the TID. Moreover, processor 812 may turn off the one or moredisabled links. Furthermore, processor 812 may transmit, via transceiver816, to apparatus 820 data over at least one of the one or more enabledlinks that is not among the one or more disabled links.

Illustrative Processes

FIG. 9 illustrates an example process 900 in accordance with animplementation of the present disclosure. Process 900 may represent anaspect of implementing various proposed designs, concepts, schemes,systems and methods described above. More specifically, process 900 mayrepresent an aspect of the proposed concepts and schemes pertaining toEHT multi-link operation management in wireless communications inaccordance with the present disclosure. Process 900 may include one ormore operations, actions, or functions as illustrated by one or more ofblocks 910 and 920. Although illustrated as discrete blocks, variousblocks of process 900 may be divided into additional blocks, combinedinto fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desiredimplementation. Moreover, the blocks/sub-blocks of process 900 may beexecuted in the order shown in FIG. 9 or, alternatively in a differentorder. Furthermore, one or more of the blocks/sub-blocks of process 900may be executed repeatedly or iteratively. Process 900 may beimplemented by or in apparatus 810 and apparatus 820 as well as anyvariations thereof. Solely for illustrative purposes and withoutlimiting the scope, process 900 is described below in the context ofapparatus 810 implemented in or as STA 110 and apparatus 820 implementedin or as AP 120 of a wireless network such as a WLAN in accordance withone or more of IEEE 802.11 standards. Process 900 may begin at block910.

At 910, process 900 may involve apparatus 810 receiving, via transceiver816, from apparatus 820 a frame including a multi-link configuration IEthat indicates one or more enabled links as a subset of one or moresupported links for a TID. Process 900 may proceed from 910 to 920.

At 920, process 900 may involve apparatus 810 transmitting, viatransceiver 816, to apparatus 820 data over at least one of the one ormore enabled links corresponding to the TID.

In some implementations, the frame may include a beacon frame, a proberesponse frame, an association response frame, or a reassociationresponse frame.

In some implementations, the multi-link configuration IE may include arespective per-STA TID-link mapping information field for each of one ormore TIDs associated with apparatus 810. In some implementations, theper-STA TID-link mapping information field may include a TID bitmapsubfield and one or more link bitmap subfields. In such cases, the TIDbitmap subfield may indicate the one or more TIDs including the TID, andeach of the one or more link bitmap subfields may indicate one or morelinks including the one or more enabled links corresponding to the TIDon which transmission of the data is enabled.

In some implementations, process 900 may further involve processor 812performing additional operations. For instance, process 900 may involveprocessor 812 determining that there is a change with respect to the oneor more enabled links. Furthermore, process 900 may involve processor812 indicating, via transceiver 816, to apparatus 820 one or more newoperating links responsive to the determining.

In some implementations, in determining that there is the change withrespect to the one or more enabled links, process 900 may involveprocessor 812 receiving, via transceiver 816, another frame fromapparatus 820 indicating the change with respect to the one or moreenabled links.

In some implementations, in indicating to apparatus 820 the one or morenew operating links, process 900 may involve processor 812 transmitting,via transceiver 816, to apparatus 820 a management frame including amulti-link operation A-Control field that indicates the one or more newoperating links as a subset of one or more changed enabled linkscorresponding to the TID. In some implementations, the multi-linkoperation A-Control field may include a TID bitmap subfield and one ormore link bitmap subfields. In such cases, the TID bitmap may indicateone or more TIDs with which the one or more link bitmap subfields in themulti-link operation A-Control field are associated. Moreover, each ofthe one or more link bitmap subfields may indicate one or more links onwhich one or more frames corresponding to a respective one of the one ormore TIDs associated with the respective link bitmap subfield aretransmitted.

In some implementations, process 900 may further involve processor 812performing other operations. For instance, process 900 may involveprocessor 812 switching an operating link from a first link among theone or more enabled links to a second link among one or more changedenabled links responsive to the determining. Moreover, process 900 mayinvolve processor 812 transmitting, via transceiver 816, to apparatus820 data over the second link.

In some implementations, in indicating to apparatus 820 the one or morenew operating links, process 900 may involve processor 812 transmitting,via transceiver 816 and over the first link, a management frameincluding a multi-link operation A-Control field that indicates the oneor more new operating links. In such cases, the second link may not beamong the one or more enabled links.

In some implementations, in switching the operating link from the firstlink to the second link, process 900 may involve processor 812performing the switching using an amount of link switching time. In suchcases, the link switching time may be signaled by apparatus 820 at amulti-link operation setup phase.

In some implementations, process 900 may further involve processor 812performing additional operations. For instance, process 900 may involveprocessor 812 receiving, via transceiver 816, from apparatus 820 anotherframe including another multi-link configuration IE that indicates oneor more disabled links among the one or more supported links for theTID. Moreover, process 900 may involve processor 812 turning off the oneor more disabled links. Furthermore, process 900 may involve processor812 transmitting, via transceiver 816, to apparatus 820 data over atleast one of the one or more enabled links that is not among the one ormore disabled links.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example process 1000 in accordance with animplementation of the present disclosure. Process 1000 may represent anaspect of implementing various proposed designs, concepts, schemes,systems and methods described above. More specifically, process 1000 mayrepresent an aspect of the proposed concepts and schemes pertaining toEHT multi-link operation management in wireless communications inaccordance with the present disclosure. Process 1000 may include one ormore operations, actions, or functions as illustrated by one or more ofblocks 1010, 1020 and 1030. Although illustrated as discrete blocks,various blocks of process 1000 may be divided into additional blocks,combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desiredimplementation. Moreover, the blocks/sub-blocks of process 1000 may beexecuted in the order shown in FIG. 10 or, alternatively in a differentorder. Furthermore, one or more of the blocks/sub-blocks of process 1000may be executed repeatedly or iteratively. Process 1000 may beimplemented by or in apparatus 810 and apparatus 820 as well as anyvariations thereof. Solely for illustrative purposes and withoutlimiting the scope, process 1000 is described below in the context ofapparatus 810 implemented in or as STA 110 and apparatus 820 implementedin or as AP 120 of a wireless network such as a WLAN in accordance withone or more of IEEE 802.11 standards. Process 1000 may begin at block1010.

At 1010, process 1000 may involve apparatus 810 receiving, viatransceiver 816, from apparatus 820 a frame including a multi-linkconfiguration IE that indicates one or more enabled links as a subset ofone or more supported links. Process 1000 may proceed from 1010 to 1020.

At 1020, process 1000 may involve apparatus 810 selecting at least oneenabled link of the one or more enabled links. Process 1000 may proceedfrom 1020 to 1030.

At 1030, process 1000 may involve apparatus 810 communicating, viatransceiver 816, with apparatus 820 over the at least one enabled link.

In some implementations, the frame may include a beacon frame, a proberesponse frame, an association response frame, or a reassociationresponse frame.

In some implementations, the multi-link configuration IE may include arespective per-STA TID-link mapping information field for each of one ormore TIDs associated with apparatus 810. In some implementations, theper-STA TID-link mapping information field may include a TID bitmapsubfield and one or more link bitmap subfields. In such cases, the TIDbitmap subfield may indicate the one or more TIDs, and each of the oneor more link bitmap subfields may indicate one or more links includingthe one or more enabled links corresponding to the TID on whichtransmission of data is enabled.

In some implementations, process 1000 may further involve processor 812performing additional operations. For instance, process 1000 may involveprocessor 812 determining that there is a change with respect to the oneor more enabled links. Moreover, process 1000 may involve processor 812indicating, via transceiver 816, to apparatus 820 one or more newoperating links responsive to the determining.

In some implementations, in indicating to apparatus 820 the one or morenew operating links, process 1000 may involve processor 812transmitting, via transceiver 816, to apparatus 820 a management frameincluding a multi-link operation A-Control field that indicates the oneor more new operating links as a subset of one or more changed enabledlinks corresponding to the TID. In some implementations, the multi-linkoperation A-Control field may include a TID bitmap subfield and one ormore link bitmap subfields. In such cases, the TID bitmap may indicateone or more TIDs with which the one or more link bitmap subfields in themulti-link operation A-Control field are associated. Moreover, each ofthe one or more link bitmap subfields may indicate one or more links onwhich one or more frames corresponding to a respective one of the one ormore TIDs associated with the respective link bitmap subfield aretransmitted.

In some implementations, process 1000 may further involve processor 812performing other operations. For instance, process 1000 may involveprocessor 812 receiving, via transceiver 816, from apparatus 820 anotherframe including another multi-link configuration IE that indicates oneor more disabled links among the one or more supported links for theTID. Moreover, process 1000 may involve processor 812 turning off theone or more disabled links. Furthermore, process 1000 may involveprocessor 812 transmitting, via transceiver 816, to apparatus 820 dataover at least one of the one or more enabled links that is not among theone or more disabled links.

Additional Notes

The herein-described subject matter sometimes illustrates differentcomponents contained within, or connected with, different othercomponents. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures aremerely examples, and that in fact many other architectures can beimplemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense,any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality iseffectively “associated” such that the desired functionality isachieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve aparticular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each othersuch that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective ofarchitectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components soassociated can also be viewed as being “operably connected”, or“operably coupled”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality,and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewedas being “operably couplable”, to each other to achieve the desiredfunctionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but arenot limited to physically mateable and/or physically interactingcomponents and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interactingcomponents and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactablecomponents.

Further, with respect to the use of substantially any plural and/orsingular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate fromthe plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as isappropriate to the context and/or application. The varioussingular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sakeof clarity.

Moreover, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that, ingeneral, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims, e.g.,bodies of the appended claims, are generally intended as “open” terms,e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but notlimited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having atleast,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but isnot limited to,” etc. It will be further understood by those within theart that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation isintended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and inthe absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example,as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may containusage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” tointroduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should notbe construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by theindefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containingsuch introduced claim recitation to implementations containing only onesuch recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductoryphrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as“a” or “an,” e.g., “a” and/or “an” should be interpreted to mean “atleast one” or “one or more;” the same holds true for the use of definitearticles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if aspecific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited,those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should beinterpreted to mean at least the recited number, e.g., the barerecitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, means at leasttwo recitations, or two or more recitations. Furthermore, in thoseinstances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C,etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the senseone having skill in the art would understand the convention, e.g., “asystem having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not belimited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and Btogether, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and Ctogether, etc. In those instances where a convention analogous to “atleast one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a constructionis intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understandthe convention, e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” wouldinclude but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, Calone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A,B, and C together, etc. It will be further understood by those withinthe art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting twoor more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, ordrawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities ofincluding one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. Forexample, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include thepossibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that various implementationsof the present disclosure have been described herein for purposes ofillustration, and that various modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.Accordingly, the various implementations disclosed herein are notintended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicatedby the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving, by an apparatus,from an access point (AP) a frame comprising a multi-link configurationinformation element (IE) that indicates one or more enabled links as asubset of one or more supported links for a traffic identifier (TID);and transmitting, by the apparatus, to the AP data over at least one ofthe one or more enabled links corresponding to the TID, wherein theframe comprises a beacon frame or a probe response frame.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein the frame further comprises an association responseframe or a reassociation response frame.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the multi-link configuration IE comprises a TID-link mappinginformation field for each of one or more TIDs associated with theapparatus.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the TID-link mappinginformation field comprises a TID bitmap subfield and one or more linkbitmap subfields, and wherein: the TID bitmap subfield indicates the oneor more TIDs including the TID, and each of the one or more link bitmapsubfields indicates one or more links comprising the one or more enabledlinks corresponding to the TID on which transmission of the data isenabled.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, by aprocessor of the apparatus, that there is a change with respect to theone or more enabled links; and indicating, by the processor, to the APone or more new operating links responsive to the determining.
 6. Themethod of claim 5, wherein the determining that there is the change withrespect to the one or more enabled links comprises receiving anotherframe from the AP indicating the change with respect to the one or moreenabled links.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein the indicating to theAP the one or more new operating links comprises transmitting to the APa management frame comprising a multi-link operation A-Control fieldthat indicates the one or more new operating links as a subset of one ormore changed enabled links corresponding to the TID.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, wherein the multi-link operation A-Control field comprises aTID bitmap subfield and one or more link bitmap subfields, and wherein:the TID bitmap indicates one or more TIDs with which the one or morelink bitmap subfields in the multi-link operation A-Control field areassociated, and each of the one or more link bitmap subfields indicatesone or more links on which one or more frames corresponding to arespective one of the one or more TIDs associated with the respectivelink bitmap subfield are transmitted.
 9. The method of claim 5, furthercomprising: switching, by the processor, an operating link from a firstlink among the one or more enabled links to a second link among one ormore changed enabled links responsive to the determining; andtransmitting, by the processor, to the AP data over the second link. 10.The method of claim 9, wherein the indicating to the AP the one or morenew operating links comprises transmitting, over the first link, amanagement frame comprising a multi-link operation A-Control field thatindicates the one or more new operating links, and wherein the secondlink is not among the one or more enabled links.
 11. The method of claim9, wherein the switching the operating link from the first link to thesecond link comprises performing the switching using an amount of linkswitching time, and wherein the link switching time is signaled by theAP at a multi-link operation setup phase.
 12. The method of claim 1,further comprising: receiving, by a processor of the apparatus, from theAP another frame comprising another multi-link configuration IE thatindicates one or more disabled links among the one or more supportedlinks for the TID.
 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:transmitting, by the processor, to the AP data over at least one of theone or more enabled links that is not among the one or more disabledlinks.
 14. A method, comprising: receiving, by an apparatus, from anaccess point (AP) a frame comprising a multi-link configurationinformation element (IE) that indicates one or more enabled links as asubset of one or more supported links; selecting, by the apparatus, atleast one enabled link of the one or more enabled links; communicating,by the apparatus, with the AP over the at least one enabled link;receiving, by the apparatus, from the AP another frame comprisinganother multi-link configuration IE that indicates one or more disabledlinks among the one or more supported links; and transmitting, by theapparatus, to the AP data over at least one of the one or more enabledlinks that is not among the one or more disabled links.
 15. The methodof claim 14, wherein the frame comprises a beacon frame, a proberesponse frame, an association response frame, or a reassociationresponse frame.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein the multi-linkconfiguration IE comprises a traffic identifier (TID)-link mappinginformation field for each of one or more TIDs associated with theapparatus.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the TID-link mappinginformation field comprises a TID bitmap subfield and one or more linkbitmap subfields, and wherein: the TID bitmap subfield indicates the oneor more TIDs, and each of the one or more link bitmap subfieldsindicates one or more links comprising the one or more enabled linkscorresponding to the TID on which transmission of data is enabled. 18.The method of claim 14, further comprising: determining, by a processorof the apparatus, that there is a change with respect to the one or moreenabled links; and indicating, by the processor, to the AP one or morenew operating links responsive to the determining.
 19. The method ofclaim 18, wherein the indicating to the AP the one or more new operatinglinks comprises transmitting to the AP a management frame comprising amulti-link operation A-Control field that indicates the one or more newoperating links as a subset of one or more changed enabled linkscorresponding to the TID, wherein the multi-link operation A-Controlfield comprises a TID bitmap subfield and one or more link bitmapsubfields, and wherein: the TID bitmap indicates one or more TIDs withwhich the one or more link bitmap subfields in the multi-link operationA-Control field are associated, and each of the one or more link bitmapsubfields indicates one or more links on which one or more framescorresponding to a respective one of the one or more TIDs associatedwith the respective link bitmap subfield are transmitted.